Real Food Diary: Day 1 - 3

Day 1: Mister and I both have enormous headaches all day. I've heard this happens when you cut out refined sugar. I noticed that I've been grinding my teeth all day too...that probably isn't helping my headache. Dinner is manicotti with all organic ingredients: whole wheat shells, ricotta mixed with sauteed baby spinach, pasta sauce, and topped with a locally made parmesan cheese. Side salad with organic greens. It's a hit!

Day 2: I still have a slight headache, but not as bad as yesterday. Dinner is couscous topped with organic veggies. I cooked it all with organic beef broth for taste. Need to switch to vegetable broth soon.

Today I bought ingredients for trail mix for the Mister to take to work. He chowed down on some after dinner and immediately had an asthma attack. We contacted his doctor to see if tree nuts were on his list of allergies and are awaiting a reply. It was interesting how immediately and noticeably it affected him.

Day 3: No headache today and I'm feeling good! This is only the third day, but I already feel like I am tasting things differently. Is that possible? Without artificial flavors and flavor enhancers, I'm really tasting the individual flavors of each ingredient. Even the Mister said he noticed this.

Dinner tonight: homemade whole wheat tortillas (recipe from 100 Days of Real Food) topped with organic tomato sauce, local mozzarella cheese, and spinach sauteed with onion and garlic. Not only did my kids not complain, they all asked for more. My picky guy even asked for the one with "green stuff" on it.

Read Food Diet

At last my dream has come true. No, not the one about Brad Pitt! The one where the Mister wants to eat only healthy food.

GASP!

I know, right? Those of you who know him in real life think I'm smoking crack right about now, but it's true. After 5 years of Food Inc., King Corn, The World According to Monsanto, The Future of Food, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, Forks Over Knives -- I'm sure I'm missing a few -- the Mister has decided to make the break from (most) processed foods...at least for a period of time.

Back when we were first married, he went in for an allergy test that showed he was highly allergic to corn (one of the few veggies he actually ate at the time), shellfish, everything outside, and a few others. He did, literally, nothing about this and continued his life as usual.

Long story short, he's faced with the opportunity / possibility of not working next school year (this is not a certain yet), which would also mean no health insurance. As World's Cheapest Man, he's starting to come to terms with the fact that food = medicine and, if he eats well, he may be able to avoid the asthma attacks he has when he eats corn, or lessen the severe GERD he experiences 24/7.

We've heard a lot about the effects of dairy on the types of allergies he has, so he would eventually like to cut out all dairy (again, for a period of time to see if there is a change). He'd also like to cut out meat.

Yes folks, that's what we call vegan. My husband, mister "man can live on steak alone" is considering a vegan diet.

Vegan honestly doesn't make my head spin as much as corn-free does. Check out the amazing article my friend Rose wrote for Modern Paleo: Emergency Guide to Avoiding Corn. You would not believe all the things that contain corn in all it's forms and derivatives.

For now we are trying to follow the Real Food Diet which allows whole foods, fruits and vegetables, local organic meat, dairy and natural sweeteners. See RFD's complete list of acceptable foods, aka "The Diet" here. We're not eating much meat in part because local, organic meat is expensive, but also because we just watched Forks Over Knives (on the recommendation of My Plastic-Free Life). It seems all the factory farm photos and environmental stats didn't sway the Mister, but cold hard facts from doctors did.

We're also avoiding the major corn products: corn, popcorn, corn tortillas, tortilla chips, corn starch, corn syrup, etc. Cutting out processed foods naturally cuts out a large number of things with corn syrup and other corn byproducts. I know from Rose's article that we're still missing lots of sources but, to be frank, I need to take it one step at a time. First the corn I see, then the corn I can't see. Since this isn't a dire health emergency, we're lucky to have that luxury.

So I welcome you to yet another crazy journey our family will be taking!

Zucchini Tots {big hit!}

Just one of the zillion reasons that I love Pinterest... Zucchini Tots!

{Photo by raylynntexas, via  Curious Country Cook}

I saw these on Pinterest last week - the same week I forgot to check what was coming in my produce box and I got zucchini, which is obviously not local in Colorado in March. I have to admit that I was happy to see it though. I've OD'ed on potatoes, onions and carrots at this point.

At any rate, I made these "zucchini tots" tonight and got a standing ovation from my kids. They all asked for seconds. My 4 year old even cried when I told him there were none left.

I used a traditional muffin pan instead of a mini, but that's the only change I made. They were fab! Something we'll be making all summer, I'm sure.

My mom's store is having a P-A-R-T-Y & sale!

If you haven't yet made it over to my mom's blog, Antiques by Joy, go see it (right after you finish reading this, of course)! Her retail store, Patina Antiques & Home is turning 7 years old this month! Patina has been featured in magazines like Victoria and Colorado Homes & Lifestyle. They've won 5280 Magazine's Top of the Town (Best Home Accessories category) and the Denver A-List's Top Antique Shop.

Not only are they having a HUGE party on March 9th & 10th to celebrate, they're also offering a generous 20% off discount to all customers that weekend. So if you're in Denver, or anywhere nearby, you'll want to mark your calendar and stop by!

I've just started a Pinterest account for her, so be sure to follow. It's a little sparse right now, but we're adding items that are in the shop as well as little peeks at her home. Be sure to "like" her store on Facebook too! (We're starting to talk about small giveaways for followers!)

Here are a few (poorly lit, my apologies) photographs that I snapped at the store last weekend...

These rusty metal letters are my favorite. They're about three feet tall and hand made.

Wouldn't they look good in your yard, as a centerpiece on the wall, or above your fireplace? Love, love, love.

Protein-packed quick snack.

When you're on the go with always-hungry kids day in and day out, it's really tempting to pick up less-than-healthy snacks that you can grab and go. For those times, I give you "no-bake energy bites" from Gimmie Some Oven. They're quick and easy to make and taste great! Check out Gimmie Some Oven's recipe and amazing blog which I'll be stalking regularly.

Valentine Gifts for Teachers...

At Target today we saw the prettiest package of Valentine-themed scrapbook paper. I chose to see it as a sign that I needed to make something special for the kids' teachers for Valentine's Day. We picked up mini boxes of Mrs. Fields chocolates for $1 each, the scrapbook paper for $0.99, printed more of the {free} Be Mine tags from Everyday Occasions, and wrapped it all up with pink and white baker's twine. They're so sweet I can hardly stand it.

On-The-Go Memory Matching Game

I originally bought these unfinished wooden rectangles for the chore magnets I made for the kids, but ended up only using the circles. With the rectangles, I decided to make a small memory type matching game using bits of scrapbook paper. I figure they can bring it when we go out to dinner or force them to do other super boring things where they need to be entertained.

The Etsy seller Less Magnets sells these in sets of 25 for $3. They have squares, circles, blocks, buttons...you name it. So much potential and great prices to boot.

A few snips of the scrapbook paper and a little Mod Podge later, we had a fun matching game. The kids have been playing it all day, so I'm not even sure if it will make it out to the car in case of a boredom emergency.


Here's the finished product~

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